Art turns uglyThe Egyptian authorities crack down on culture

KHEDIVE ISMAIL looms large in Egyptian history. During his 16-year rule the 19th-century Ottoman pasha modernised the country, laying down railways and irrigation canals that remain in use today. A statue of him towers over a square in Ismailia, the city that bears his name. When the current governor ordered workers to spruce up Ismailia, they naturally repainted the sculpture. But they did so with gaudy coats of black and silver. Even his eyes got an eerie metallic glow. The great pasha now looks like a character from a low-budget cartoon.

Egyptians are proud of their rich culture. Statues and reliefs carved in antiquity draw millions of tourists. In the 20th century Egypt produced cultural icons like Naguib Mahfouz, a Nobel-prizewinning author, and Umm Kulthum, a celebrated singer. After the revolution of 2011 a new crop of artists took their work to the masses. Theatre troupes performed in public squares and colourful murals went up across Cairo.

But the army-backed government that seized power in 2013 views art, like all free expression, as a threat. Since February police have jailed at least a dozen artists, according to Human Rights Watch, a pressure group. A poet was sentenced to three years in prison for a book that has not even been published. A director and playwright received suspended sentences for an “unauthorised” performance. Though ostensibly secular, the government also enforces stifling morality laws. A belly-dancer was detained in February for exposing too much flesh.

That leaves Egypt’s bumbling bureaucrats to play culture commissars, with predictable results. In 2015 the leaders of Samalut, 200km south of Cairo, wanted to install a statue at the city gates. They commissioned a replica of one of Egypt’s best-known works: the striking bust of Nefertiti carved in 1345BC, her slender features topped by an imposing blue crown. The replica was grotesque. Instead of a healthy reddish glow, the queen’s skin was a sickly yellow, her eyes closed and her face blemished.

Mockery is not (yet) illegal. Egyptians compared the Nefertiti statue to Frankenstein’s monster. When a statue of Umm Kulthum (pictured) was painted in 2016, many said she looked like Princess Fiona, a cartoon ogre from the movie “Shrek”. The Nefertiti statue came down and Umm Kulthum has been restored. But more ugly art, commissioned by the government, remains on display.

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